THE first nine of 59 nurses recruited from the Philippines to work at Teesside hospitals have arrived in Britain.

The nurses have completed a two-week induction programme at the University Hospital of North Tees, and are about to begin working on the wards in Stockton and Hartlepool hospitals.

They will be working under the guidance of senior nurses.

Despite a new recruitment campaign, the North Tees and Hartlepool HealthTrust was unable to fill the 90 vacancies it has created since April 1999 and decided to recruit nurses from the Philippines.